BURLINGTON RALLIES FOR CROSSDRESSING TEEN

Transexual Menace Lead Show of Support

[Burlington, VT - October 5, 1996] AS DOZENS OF LOCAL supporters sprawled across the green
lawn, a procession of speakers mounted the front steps of the downtown Unitarian
Universalist Church today to voice their fervent support and concern for suspended crossdressing
teen Matthew Stickney.

Posters declaring "Support Our GenderQueer Youth," "Freedom of Gender Expression!" and
"Liberty, Freedom, & Pleats" framed the church doors. During the event demonstrators handed
out hundreds of fliers to the amused and often supportive local crowds enjoying a last warm
Saturday afternoon in this normally quiet New England town.

Stickney, who identifies variously as gay, drag, and crossdressing, was suspended from
Burlington H.S. September 9th when he wore a dress to class. He stated it was his way of
showing pride in his identity. But after he was verbally assaulted by other students, the
principal claimed it was Stickney who was "creating a disturbance," and demanded he
change his attire. A series of confrontations then ensued, which led to Stickney's
suspension.

The case quickly attracted a barrage of national media attention as one of a growing
number incidents involving transgender and genderqueer gay youth. Stickney responded by
going into hiding. He has not returned to school or appeared in public since, and at the
rally it was two of his high school friends who spoke on his behalf and took a black Menace T-
shirt for him as a keepsake.

Said Jane Ellen Fairfax of Tri-S, the nation's largest crossdressing organization and
a rally sponsor, "This is not about one high school student, but about *everyone's* basic
right to express gender without the fear of harassment, hate-speech, or punishment.
Whether you are straight or gay makes no difference: wearing a dress is not grounds for
intolerance or bigotry."

The event was organized by Jess Bell (Transexual Menace Vermont), Nancy Nangeroni
(Transexual Menace Boston), and Riki Anne Wilchins (Transexual Menace NYC) and attracted
sponsorship from a broad spectrum of local groups including the Burlington Women's
Council, Outright Vermont, Bi-Net Vermont, the Vermont Coalition for Gay & Lesbian Rights, the
Peace & Justice Center, and Vermont's queer newspaper "Out in the Mountains." both local
television stations sent camera crews to conduct interviews.

Adding to the rally's flavor, the local Ben & Jerry's provided scores of free ice-cream
coupons to event attendees.

(c) 1996 InYourFace, the on-line, news-only service for gender activism from GenderPAC.